


A Little Thing Called Love

by marvel_ling



Category: Naruto
Genre: Crushes, Eating Disorders, F/M, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, No Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-16
Updated: 2016-10-16
Packaged: 2018-08-22 03:16:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8270525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marvel_ling/pseuds/marvel_ling
Summary: What is love? by Shikamaru NaraI never thought I would see a true display of love. Not until one of my teammates fell for the other. What a drag.





	

What exactly is love? When I was younger I could give you the exact definition, usually with a sarcastic tone. I didn't care about love, because I had never seen an actual display of it. I had no evidence that love was real. 

Not until I became a part of Team 10. We work really well together, especially now, but in the beginning not so much. Choji and Ino had the same relationship as oil and water. You could put them together, but they didnt mix.Not until we turned sixteen. 

When we turned sixteen, Choji looked at Ino differently. He acted softer towards her, agreed more with her, and tried to do things for her. I saw the beginnings of love in his eyes. Not just friendly comradery either. It was obvious that he had a crush on her. It was obvious to everyone except Ino. Or maybe she did know and she just didn't care. She was having her own issues at the time. Like Choji's crush, it was obvious to everyone besides Ino. 

See Ino has always had a thing about being beautiful. Her hair was always perfect, her skin was flawless, and she held herself very gracefully. Er...don't tell her I said that. But it is true. I have known her all my life, and when we hit puberty, she hit the jackpot. 

She was always cute and I watched her grow into a beautiful young woman. She balanced her new womanly figure with the strength required to be a kunoichi.

I won't comment in detail on her body, but I will say that she was well proportioned. There was nothing wrong with her body at all and I know that Sakura was jealous of her. But I know that is not how eating disorders work. Shesaw something wrong with herself, even though the girls would kill to have her body and the guys would kill to be with her. 

It started very slowly, very unnoticeable. She started training harder and longer than Choji or I. I didn't know much about her eating habits then, but knowing what I know now, I would guess she ate very little. Her eating habits became more apparent as time went on. Especially when we'd go out to eat as a team. She would take so long to eat and at the end of it, she would have only consumed half of her already meager amount of food. 

Ino became thinner and thinner. Choji, being plump all his life, came to me with concern. 

"Shikamaru, does Ino seem really skinny nowadays?" he asked me. His voice was full of concern and his eyes were full of sadness. 

"Yeah, I started noticing she is getting skinnier." I had replied. Choji frowned.

"I think she has an eating disorder. She's hurting herself." I'll never forget the tremble in his voice. He was on the verge of tears. I put my hand on his shoulder.

"It'll be okay Choji. Let's talk with her. Let her know we're here for her." I said. He looked hopeful. 

The talk with Ino did not go over well. She was angry. She yelled at us, called us idiots for thinking she had an eating disorder. Choji and I just stared at her in shock. Her hair was beginning to thin and her eyes were not as bright. Her skin looked dull. She lost some of her beautiful figure, her hips had narrowed from fat loss. Her arms and legs looked close to skin and bones.It was obvious she was getting thinner. It was obvious she had an eating disorder. 

I think the bigger issue was not that she had an eating disorder, but that she was too embarrassed to admit it to us. We're her teammates and friends. She felt too embarrassed and tormented by her disorder that she couldn't let us help her. 

It nearly destroyed Choji, who was adamant that he could help her. She had pushed us away, but mostly him. He tried to talk to her about it every day. He urged her to get help. 

It ended in an explosive fight that I had to get in the middle of. I told Ino to walk away and turned to Choji.

"You can't keep pushing her. I know you care, but this is a disorder and she can't see what is wrong, Choji," I told him firmly. "Pushing her will only make it worse."

"But..Shikamaru..I can't continue to watch her kill herself. I can't," he told me. "I.. I love her."

I gave him a hug. He cried on my shoulder. I didn't know what to say to make him feel better. "It'll be okay" was wrong to say. Even I knew it wouldn't be okay. 

But for the first time, I had an idea of what real love was. Choji wanted to help Ino so bad, he was willing to do anything, because he loved her. He was blinded by love. 

Then things turned bad. I remember being woken at 1 in the morning by Asuma-sensei. He told me that Ino had been taken to the hospital. 

From what Asuma told me, Choji had been with her when she collapsed. He had taken her immediately to the hospital and then called Asuma to come get me. I immediately got dressed and we rushed to the hospital. 

Ino was being worked on when we got there and we couldn't see her. Choji was in the waiting room. He looked terrible. He had been crying and looked so shakenup. He looked a little relieved when he saw us.

I had asked what happened and he tearfully explained that he had gone over to Ino's place to tell her that he loved her and that he wouldn't bother her anymore. They had a good conversation and that's when she collapsed. 

We waited for hours. Choji was the first one to be by her side when we could go into her room. She wasn't awake when we went in. The sight of her, laying there struggling for her life, will stick with me forever. The sight of Choji kneeling next to her and holding her hand gently was even worse.

This was the second instance of true love I had ever seen. Choji stayed by her side the entire time she was in the hospital. When she woke up, he was so happy he cried. Ino was surprised to see him.

He kissed her hand and told her he loved her. She had smiled and thanked him for sticking by her.

I didn't think love was real. I couldn't explain it because I had never seen it. I had lived most of my life thinking that true love was not attainable. At least, up until I had watched my best friends fall in love. 

What is love?

Watching Choji nearly destroy himself to protect Ino, who was destroying herself. It was watching him stay by her side when she was in the hospital. Love is Choji helping Ino to recover when she got out of the hospital. When he helps her eat and encourages her to take it slow. When he helps her eat before he even touches his food.

It's the look in her eyes when they're together. It's the comfortability she seeks in his arms. It's the strength she gets from him when she is on the verge of relapse. She knows he'll always be there for her. And he is patient with her as she is learning to love herself and him.

That's what love is..and it doesn't seem like such a drag after all.

  



End file.
